Now that you have had a chance to experience science education as it actually occurs, it might be useful for you to reflect on the role that you want inquiry to play in your own classroom. Before you do this, please look back on the resources and results from questions 3 and 4 from our inquiry jigsaw activity from last semester. After this review answer the following questions:
After considering the expectations for classroom inquiry presented in state and national standards what you think you will try to do in your own classroom?
I think that the use of inquiry in the classroom is great way to spark interest in students and to develop some of their critical thinking skills. Inquiry allows students to use provided materials to solve specific problems. This gives students the opportunity to take control of their own learning and direct it to where they want to go. It also allows them to think outside of the box and problem solve. However, when given the freedom to perform inquiry many students are hesitant because they are afraid of being wrong or getting incorrect results. When I use inquiry in my classroom I plan on using it in labs and slowly introducing to my students. I think the best way to start using inquiry is to begin with guided inquiry labs. The only way students will learn how do conduct inquiry labs is if they are scaffold and guided through it. I plan on using guiding inquiry in the beginning of the school year and then as the academic year progresses slowly take away some of the scaffolding. This will adapt students to the type of learning and it will teach them how do conduct inquiry and what types of questions to ask themselves while doing it. It will also be teaching them realistic scientific methods that scientists use and it will help them to begin to think like a scientist. The goal is that hopefully by the end of the year students will be able to successfully complete an inquiry assignment independently and in future classes when they are assigned inquiry labs they will be confident and able to complete them.
What resources and other forms of support do you think would be useful in order to be able to support classroom inquiry during your early years of teaching?
I think that one resource would be to look at what inquiry lessons other veteran teachers use in their classrooms. I also think that looking at published resources and using the internet are other good ways to find inquiry rich activities. But the best resource would probably be going to some type of professional development seminar on inquiry teaching.
After considering the expectations for classroom inquiry presented in state and national standards what you think you will try to do in your own classroom?
I think that the use of inquiry in the classroom is great way to spark interest in students and to develop some of their critical thinking skills. Inquiry allows students to use provided materials to solve specific problems. This gives students the opportunity to take control of their own learning and direct it to where they want to go. It also allows them to think outside of the box and problem solve. However, when given the freedom to perform inquiry many students are hesitant because they are afraid of being wrong or getting incorrect results. When I use inquiry in my classroom I plan on using it in labs and slowly introducing to my students. I think the best way to start using inquiry is to begin with guided inquiry labs. The only way students will learn how do conduct inquiry labs is if they are scaffold and guided through it. I plan on using guiding inquiry in the beginning of the school year and then as the academic year progresses slowly take away some of the scaffolding. This will adapt students to the type of learning and it will teach them how do conduct inquiry and what types of questions to ask themselves while doing it. It will also be teaching them realistic scientific methods that scientists use and it will help them to begin to think like a scientist. The goal is that hopefully by the end of the year students will be able to successfully complete an inquiry assignment independently and in future classes when they are assigned inquiry labs they will be confident and able to complete them.
What resources and other forms of support do you think would be useful in order to be able to support classroom inquiry during your early years of teaching?
I think that one resource would be to look at what inquiry lessons other veteran teachers use in their classrooms. I also think that looking at published resources and using the internet are other good ways to find inquiry rich activities. But the best resource would probably be going to some type of professional development seminar on inquiry teaching.